Secrets of the City

Been good for my neighborhood. Although, maybe not so much for the owners who are now all upside down.

In a dense urban setting, what other home-buying options are there? I wonder if these people also complain to their friends about suburban sprawl?

The author of Uptown TC makes good points: healthy neighborhoods require diversity and viable options across the income spectrum. Many people want to invest in their community – put down roots for the long term. We cannot all afford one of those Isles houses, and with retirement age and less to no income, renting can be a perilous option.

The conversions are a problem, especially in cases when developers did little to improve the structure, mechanical, etc. and just put lipstick on a pig (yeah, I went there). Those cases may invite more financial hardship from owners who can least afford it. Now that can destroy a neighborhood.

On the flip side, I once rented a brownstone flat on LaSalle and had to move out because it was being converted into low-income housing. My income,. such as it was at the time, disqualified me from being eligible.

I think co-ops would be more advantageous than condos for a neighborhood because of the commitment required on the part of the owners.

Was that written by Vlado?

My condo is affordable, and I for one look at more ownership in my neighborhood as a good thing. And honestly, I don’t mind a little gentrification going on where I live.

Nope, was not written by me.

I live on the wrong side of Lyndale along lake.

Take a look at some of the street blocks between lake and 31st.

The houses are complete dumps.

Would not mind seeing some condos built in their place.

Yeah, perfect income mix would be nice, in a fantasy land.

I think I will take condo gentrification over run-down 100 year old houses with terrible renters.

The sidewalk down the street has had a piano on it for the last year….

We bought our townhome (brownstone) in Vlad’s neighborhood for many reasons, one being it is a nice mixed neighborhood with a lot of potential. We have a 116 year old townhome, there are brand new condos behind us and homeowners across the street. There are both houses and apartments rented all over the place. While I would like to see more homeownership and less absentee landlordism, I think the condos add a lot to the neighborhood, and the people living there are active in the community.

Plus, some of us just don’t want to deal with shoveling and lawn mowing, but want to live in the city. Condos and townhomes are perfect for that.

Wow, this site has really gone down?

Whatever happened to the long diatribes??

Barely any posts here lately?

Is this due to the economy and people losing jobs?

As for Condos. I think they are great!!!

3-4 story condos provide good land usage, energy efficiency, enough density to support local businesses, etc etc etc….

while houses are nice, they don’t support the required density for public transport, local businesses, etc, etc, etc.. Due to this, you have to drive everywhere.

Anyhoo, I would rant more, but there is no one listening.

kc! I love Lyndale neighborhood, but the part along Lake street is fairly terrible. Would not mind seeing that gentrified!

Should I sound the Death Knell?

We’ve just been waiting for vlado to come back to us.

Anyhoo, I would rant more, but there is no one listening.

That’s never stopped you before. (grin)

Welcome back, vlado. Really.

Some pragmatic statements from Vlado. The scales of a cloistered life in acadamia are falling from his eyes.

Umm for the record I am no longer in academia.

I am not an official Corporate Tool.

Worse off I am in super volatile High-Tech industry!!

Yay?? Every 4 months layoffs, lol.

How am I supposed to afford a Condo with this kind of job security, lol.

This is why I share a 500 sq ft. apartment with my gf and dog….

uhh, “not” = “now”

Creative, well-educated types like you are the hope of our nation’s economy, vlado4.

Work harder!

I was aware that you finished college and officially became a cog in the machine. Merely noting what I saw as a change in attitude common to people who are mugged by reality.

Yeah…

After being educated so much, I have a hard time having hope…

But I do work very hard!

Gotta make those computers run faster with magical technology!

Reality mugs me daily.

It is seriously depressing!!

This is why I escape to my fantasy space colony on Mars where a superior group of atheist-scientists-artists have are starting the next generation of human development.

In other words, vlad hangs out with DFLers.

“After being educated so much, I have a hard time having hope…”

Yeah, my PhD did that to me.

I appreciate vlado’s post about land usage and sustainability in a community. I am a fan of multi-family housing. As I look around Uptown, though, most of the “affordable” properties look as though they were converted on the cheap. The obligation to deal with major mechanicals and other structural issues not addressed in a conversion keeps can be catastrophic: most buyers at this end of the market don’t have the liquid assets for that level of repair, and most of the conversions were not set up with appropriate reserves and monthly assessments.

I’m all for a mix of responsibly developed and maintained single families, condos, co-ops, and apartments. However, I do think we went through a period where the operative work, responsible, was seldom in use.

“After being educated so much, I have a hard time having hope…”

“Yeah, my PhD did that to me.”

These statements are so whiny and pathetic it’s hard to formulate a coherent comment. Can anyone else?

I thought the same thing, Rat…

Umm,

What I meant is that after having large exposure to what a lot of the challenges facing my generation, it becomes increasingly difficult to be optimistic.